Mission life: THE KUKMIN DAILY

The claim has been made that Yu Byeong-eon (73), the founder of Salvation Sect (“Evangelical Baptist Church”), and the actual owner of Chonghaejin Marine Co., is an imposter who has defrauded people with his unknown religion. It is also argued that the Salvation Sect’s wrong doctrine may even have influenced the crew to neglect their duty to save passengers from the sinking ferry Sewol.

Jeong Dong-seop (67, photo), former professor of the Department of Counseling and Psychology at Korean Baptist Theological University and Seminary, speaking at an interview on April 24 at a church on Yangcheonno in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, said, “Salvation Sect believers hold key positions on the ferry Sewol and in Chonghaejin Marine Co.” He explained, “Because members of Salvation Sect believe in the peculiar exclusive doctrine ‘Only you will be saved,’ at the moment of crisis they could have mistakenly thought, ‘Do I need to rescue these others, who cannot be saved anyway?’” From 1968 to 1977, former professor Jeong was Yu’s close associate, working at his side as an interpreter.

“Salvation Sect is a sham group, totally unrelated to the Korea Baptist Convention or to any other Korean church, and its founder Mr. Yu is the fraudulent peddler of an unknown religion, as pointed out by the Justice Ministry at the time of the Odaeyang incident in 1987,” former professor Jeong said. “It is impossible to imagine that the wrong doctrine of this pseudo religious group did not influence the Sewol disaster.” He declared, “We must absolutely restrict sham religious groups that crush the happiness of individuals and their families.”